THE FLOEAL WOKLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 295 



After tliCy come from the plunging material and have recovered 

 themselves, place them so that they may get an abundance of light 

 and air, and as close to the glass as possible. The crocuses are 

 really not worth the trouble of forcing in heat, for they remain in 

 bloom so short a time, and they come into bloom early with green- 

 house treatment. It will, perhaps, be as well to say that fine large 

 bulbs only should be employed for growing in pots. Albion, striped 

 mauve ; Caroline Ohisliolm, pure white ; Gulden YeUoiu, very large 

 and fine ; Ida Pfeiffer, white, striped with mauve ; iVe Flus Ultra , 

 fine blue ; Prince Albert, blue ; Princess Alexandra, dark yiolet ; 

 Queen Victoria, white ; Sir Walter Scott, white, striped with blue, 

 are amongst the best of those suitable for growing in-doors. 



Miscellaneous Bulbs. — Jonquils are invaluable on account of 

 their delicious fragrance. The large Doable Street-scented is the best, 

 and the Single Sweet-scented is also very good; they should be 

 grown three in a pot. Snoiudrops should be taken up at once and 

 potted, and the pots plunged in a cold frame, where they should 

 remain until November, and then be removed to the greenhouse. The 

 pots should be placed on the shelves close to the glass, and have an 

 abundance of water : these should be taken up in good clumps, and 

 as they bloom naturally early in the spring, very little is gained by 

 subjecting them to fire-heat. Ixias, Sparascis, Babianas, and Tritonias 

 are all good for early flowering. Of the ixias select Buceplialus, 

 Golden Brop, Lady Slade, Nora, Prcestans, and Bosea Multiflora. 

 The following sparaxis are all good — Angelique, Belvidere, Leopard, 

 Maculata, Tricolor Grandifiora, and Victor Emmanuel. Of the tri- 

 tonias, Aurea and Crocata are the two best, the latter being preferable 

 of the two. These should be taken out of the old soil and repotted 

 soon after they go to rest, about eight or ten bulbs in each six-inch 

 pot. The cold-pit is a capital place for them until ready to bring into 

 the conservatory, or, if required early, into the forcing-pit. A large 

 selection of babianas is not required, but the following are indispen- 

 sable to all good collections of bulbous plants — Atrocyanea, rich dark 

 blue ; Kerraesina, crimson ; and Villosa, violet. Lachenalias do not 

 belong to what are commonly termed " Dutch bulbs," but they are 

 nevertheless invaluable where spring flowers are appreciated. They 

 are best potted when at rest, six bulbs in a six-inch pot. Keep in 

 a cold-frame until November, and then remove to the greenhouse ; 

 place the plants near the glass_, and give them plenty of air. They 

 are not grown half so extensively as they ought to be, considering 

 their extreme beauty and distinctness from everything else. The 

 next plant which 1 shall call attention to is not, strictly speaking, a 

 bulbous plant at all, but tuberous-rooted, namely, the early- flowering 

 Tropa^olums. Of these, for early spring blooming, by no means fail 

 to Secure A^mreum, Jarattii, and Tricoloram — they are &11 first-rate, 

 the last being best known. Pot these at once as they will soon be 

 on the move, and if handled much after growth commences, there 

 will be a danger of getting the growing points broken oif. One tuber 

 in each pot is sufficient, and the soil should consist of two parts loam 

 and a part each of decayed miiuure and leaf- mould, with -plenty of 

 silver-sand. Tfie tubers should be just covered and a trellis put to 



